Ludicrously easy path to Hyatt Globalist status (top-tier status for 2 years!)

Update 1/8/21: Reminder that you must register for both Bonus Journeys and Free Nights on Sale (rebate on award stays) by January 15th. Even if you’re not sure that you’ll use these promotions, it makes sense to register while you can just in case. Nick can confirm that all of his bonus nights posted from Bonus Journeys and he now has 60 elite nights and all of the choice benefits in his account. Skip to the Ludicrously easy path to Hyatt Globalist status post here.

Update 1/7/21: One Mile at a Time reports that the bonus elite nights are starting to now post in batches. Ben also notes that individual members may see the bonus nights post in multiple batches in a single account — so if you don’t see all the nights right away, Relax: your elite stuff will post. As of 2:09pm Eastern, I do not yet have my bonus nights, but I’m sure they’re coming.

UPDATE: Hyatt intends to post bonus elite nights early!  Those enrolled in Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promo (Register here by Jan 15), earn a bonus elite night for each night earned from actual stays through Feb 28 2021.  The original terms stated that bonus elite nights would post after the end of the promotion (i.e. in March), but One Mile at a Time reports (and we’ve since confirmed) that Hyatt is planning to post bonus elite nights this week for stays already completed, and then once every two weeks going forward.
Now that Hyatt has slashed 2021 elite status requirements and extended several lucrative promos, it will be ludicrously easy to earn top-tier Hyatt Globalist elite status early in 2021. That status will then last through February 2023!

Hyatt has many overlapping promotions that now extend through Feb 28 2021. Plus, they’ve cut in half the requirements for earning elite status in 2021. Taken together, it will now be super easy to earn top tier status 2021!

Background

Elite Status Requirements Cut in Half

For those seeking to earn Hyatt elite status in 2021, Hyatt has cut in half the requirements. Here are the new requirements for each elite level:

For those who earn status through spend at Hyatt properties, the requirements for earning status through base points has also been cut in half.  For example, in 2021 you can earn Globalist status by earning 50K base points instead of the usual 100K.  This would require $10K calendar year spend at Hyatt.  Most people will do better earning status through stays.

Overlapping promos

Here’s a summary view of all Hyatt promos that extend into 2021 (make sure to register for each!):

• Bonus Journeys: October 1, 2020 through Feb 28, 2021 (Register by Jan 15)
  • Earn double elite nights, with base elite nights credited to the check-out year and bonus elite nights credited towards 2021.  In other words, any stays with a check-out date in 2021 and by Feb 28th will earn double elite nights.
  • Earn triple points (15 points per dollar) at all Hyatt properties, participating MGM Resorts, Small Luxury Hotels of the World locations, and Lindland Expedition experiences.
  • Earn quadruple points (20 points per dollar) at select properties (Find the full list here). Hyatt cardholders only.
• Free Nights on Sale (Up to 25% back): July 8, 2020 – Feb 28, 2021 (Register by Jan 15)
  • Points rebate: 25% back for Hyatt cardholders; 15% back for everyone else
  • Free parking on award stays
  • Triple base points per dollar spent on dining at Hyatt properties.

• Work from Hyatt: August 25, 2020 to September 12, 2021 (Use offer code WFHYAT — Minimum stay of 7 nights). No registration required.
• 500 Reasons to Stay Somewhere New: Earn 500 points per night at select new properties. Both paid and free night awards count.  Valid dates vary by property.  No registration required.
• $75 back on $250 at Hyatt with World of Hyatt Visa (Unbound Collection, Destination Hotels, and joie de vivre).  Valid through March 31, 2021 (Registration by 1/5/21 is now closed).

Note that as far as I know the following promos have not (yet) been extended into 2021:

• Miraval BOGO: July 15, 2020 through December 31, 2020 (call and Use offer code World of Hyatt Miraval BOGO at time of booking). No registration required.
• AA 3X Miles (targeted): September 22, 2020 through December 31, 2020 (Register by Oct 31)

Top Tier Hyatt status: Why chase Globalist?

In my opinion, Hyatt offers the best top-tier elite perks of any hotel chain.  Top tier Globalist elites get free upgrades including standard suites, waived resort fees on paid nights (resort fees are waived on award nights for all members), free breakfast or club access, free parking on award nights, etc.  Mid-tier Explorist status, meanwhile, offers very few meaningful perks.  In my opinion, Globalist status is worth a lot.  Explorist status is worth very little.

Milestone rewards

It’s important to understand that some of the perks that people associate with Hyatt Globalist status are actually earned with Milestone Rewards.  These are rewards that are earned when you hit different milestones of elite nights.  Suite Upgrade Awards, a free night category 1-7 certificate, and access to My Hyatt Concierge are Milestone benefits, not elite benefits.  Therefore if you earn elite status with only 30 elite nights, you won’t earn those perks.

This chart shows the details:

More details about Milestone Rewards, including value estimates, can be found here.

How to earn 2 years of top-tier status

Earn 30 Elite Nights

Hyatt’s top-tier Globalist status usually requires earning 60 tier-qualifying elite nights within a calendar year, but in 2021 it requires only 30 elite nights.  The key to earning 2 years of status is to earn 30 elite nights early in 2021.  Once you do, you’ll have Globalist status for the rest of that year, all of the next year, and through February of the year after that.  If you earn Globalist status in 2021, you’ll keep that status through February 2023.

Earn Double Elite Nights

Thanks to the Bonus Journeys promotion, all stays with a checkout date between January 1 and February 28 2021 will earn double elite nights in 2021.  15 nights at Hyatt hotels (with check-out dates between Jan 1 and Feb 28) will be enough to earn top-tier Globalist status for 2 years!  Make sure to register for the Bonus Journeys promo.

Double Elite Night Q&A

• Do award stays count? Yes
• Do free night certificate stays count? Yes
• Do Points + Cash award stays count? Yes
• Do bonus elite nights count towards Milestone Rewards? Yes
• Do elite nights from World of Hyatt credit card spend count? No
• What happens with stays that span December and January? For example, if I stay Dec 28 – Jan 4 (7 nights), how many tier qualifying nights would be awarded for 2020 and how many for 2021?  Elite nights are earned based on the checkout date. So, in this example, the 7 night stay would earn a total of 14 elite nights in 2021 and zero nights for 2020.
• What happens with stays that are entirely within 2020? For stays with a checkout date in 2020, you’ll earn the usual number of elite nights this year and the same number again in 2021.  So while you won’t earn double elite nights in 2021, this year’s stays with checkout dates between Oct 1 and Dec 31 will help with qualifying for status in 2021.  All of this assumes of course that you’ve registered for the Bonus Journeys promo.

World of Hyatt Credit Card

Note: This section was written in late 2020 when the World of Hyatt welcome bonus included 10 elite nights in 2020 and 10 in 2021.  The usual deal is that cardholders get 5 elite nights each year.

Even easier status with the World of Hyatt credit card: Those who applied for the card under the current no longer available offer (good through the end of the year 2020) will earn 10 elite nights in 2020 and again in 2021.  All other cardholders automatically earn 5 elite nights each year.  Plus, the card offers 2 elite nights with each $5K of spend.  Without considering the latter, those starting with 10 elite nights would only need to stay 10 nights with checkout dates between Jan 1 and Feb 28 to earn Globalist status.  Those with the usual 5 elite nights would have to stay 13 nights during that period.

Example

Here’s a high level view of how this can work for someone who signs up for the World of Hyatt credit card by the end of the year:

1. Get 10 elite nights automatically from the credit card (thanks to the current welcome bonus, found here).
2. Book 10 nights worth of stays. These can be award nights booked with points or paid nights booked through Hyatt (don’t book through a 3rd party like Expedia though as you won’t earn elite nights that way).  All check-out dates must be between Jan 1 and Feb 28 2021.
3. Thanks to earning 3X or 4X points on paid stays or up to 25% back on points stays, these stays will be much more rewarding than usual.  Other overlapping promos can also make the stay more rewarding and/or less expensive.
4. After each stay, you should earn double elite nights.  In other words, a 5 night stay will earn 10 elite nights.
5. After your elite nights post from your stays, you should have 30 elite nights.  With that, you’ll earn top tier Globalist status plus the Milestone Rewards that are offered at 20 and 30 nights:
   • 1 category 1-4 free night certificate
   • 4 useless club access awards (as a Globalist you won’t need them and can’t transfer them)
6. Your status will be valid through February 2023

Decision Tools

I’ve created a number of tools to help you figure out how much Hyatt elite status is worth to you; whether to earn elite nights through credit card spend or stays; and whether to book stays with cash or points (or both).

To use these tools, do the following:

1. Open the worksheet by clicking here: FM’s Hyatt Worksheet
2. Copy the sheet so that you can make changes. Within Google Docs, go to the File menu and click File.. Make a Copy
3. In your copy of the sheet, on each tab, edit all of the cells in blue, but don’t touch other cells.
4. You’ll find answers at the bottom.

The rest of this section explains how and why to use each tab of the worksheet…

How much is status worth?

If you plan to stay often at Hyatt hotels, Globalist status can be worth a lot both in terms of cost savings (free breakfast, waived resort fees, free parking) and luxuries (suite upgrades, welcome amenities, club lounges).  If you don’t plan to stay at all at Hyatt hotels over the next two years, then status is obviously worth nothing at all.  If you’ve read this far into the post, I expect that your answer is somewhere in-between.  The question is whether it’s worth spending extra money (or points) to get to top tier status.

A good way to answer this question is to look at each elite status benefit, as well as the Milestone Awards that you’ll earn along the way, and determine how much you’d be willing to pay for each one if it was available to purchase in advance.  For example, it’s possible that you would save many hundreds of dollars thanks to getting free breakfast, but you shouldn’t pay that much in advance.  The only reason to pay in advance is if you’d be then likely to save much more than you spent.  When valuing things that save money, as a rule of thumb, I recommend valuing them less based on how uncertain you are about getting those hoped-for savings.  For example, with Globalist status I might save $2,000 on breakfasts over the next two years, but that’s an extremely random guess.  I’d be willing to pre-pay only $200 or so for this benefit.  On the other hand, one Milestone Reward choice at 40 nights is a $100 Hyatt gift certificate.  I’m nearly 100% sure that I’ll use it during my next Hyatt stay.  In this case, I’d be happy to prepay $80 for the $100 gift certificate in order to lock in 20% savings.

Use the “Elite Night Value Worksheet for 2021 ONLY” tab to figure out how much each of the Milestone Rewards and elite perks are worth paying for.  At the bottom you’ll find summary results.

In the above example results (and this is just an example, your results will differ), you can see that the cumulative value of earning Globalist status is $485.  If considering a mattress run, I should spend no more than $485 to get to Globalist status.  Interestingly, though, there are other benefits earned at 40, 50, and 60 nights that might be worth pursuing.  If suite upgrade certificates are particularly valuable to you, you may be interested in earning 50 nights (or more) in 2021 so as to secure those upgrades.

Points or Cash (or both)?

The Bonus Journeys promo and the Free Nights on Sale promo are similar in that they both offer a way to earn a lot of points.  Via Bonus Journeys, you’ll earn triple or quadruple points on paid stays.  Via Free Nights on Sale, you’ll earn either 15% or 25% points back based on the points price paid and whether or not you have a Hyatt credit card.

Figuring out whether you’re better off paying for a stay with points or with cash is always complicated.  These two promos make the decision even harder.

To answer this question, use the “Cash or Points?” tab in FM’s Hyatt Worksheet to figure it out.  After filling out your copy of the worksheet, you’ll find an answer at the bottom like this:

This result will tell you two things:

1. Which type of booking is best (points, cash, or points+cash); and
2. Whether it’s worth booking this stay at all.

World of Hyatt Credit Card Spend Instead?

Even if you find a good way to earn status through stays, it’s worth checking if there’s a better option…

If you have the World of Hyatt credit card, then you always have the option to earn elite status through spend.  Is that a better option than booking a stay?

Use the “Credit Card Cost of Spend for Elite Nights” tab in FM’s Hyatt Worksheet to figure this out.  After filling out your copy of the worksheet, you’ll find an answer at the bottom showing you your opportunity cost per elite night.  In my case, the answer was $34.  This means that if I put the same spend on my best “everywhere else” card instead of my Hyatt card, I would come out $34 ahead per elite night (e.g. per $2,500 spend).

This result will tell you two things:

1. Whether its worth spending on your Hyatt card in general (by comparing to how much you value elite nights); and
2. Whether you should pursue elite status through credit card spend or stays.  If the cost per elite night is less with credit card spend, then that’s your best option.

Can you start from scratch and spend nothing out of pocket?

Suppose you sign up for the World of Hyatt credit card now.  Could you turn its perks and welcome bonus into Globalist status?  Let’s take a look…

1) Sign up now for the World of Hyatt card, and spend $6,000.

Assuming that none of the $6,000 spend will be in bonus categories, and that you won’t complete $5K of that spend until January 1st, you’ll end up with the following:

• 56,000 World of Hyatt points (50,000 welcome bonus + 6,000 from spend)
• 10 elite nights for 2021 (this is part of the card’s current no-longer available welcome offer)
• 2 elite nights for 2021 for spending $5K (this is a standard perk of the card)

2) Book 9 nights in category 1 Hyatt hotels with points

Category 1 hotels cost only 5,000 points per night.  With your 56,000 Hyatt points, you can book 9 nights and have 11,000 points leftover.  You can book all 9 nights as one stay or book multiple separate stays. The key is to make sure that every stay ends within 2021 and by February 28th.  That is, as long as the check-out date is between Jan 1 and Feb 28, inclusive, you’ll earn double elite nights in 2021.  From these stays, you will earn 18 elite nights in 2021.

3) Collect your rebated points

As a Hyatt cardholder, you will get a 25% points rebate (as long as you register for the rebate promo).  So, after your 9 nights, you’ll get back 45K x .25 = 11,250 points.

4) Add it up

At this point in 2021, you should have the following:

• 22,500 Hyatt points
• 30 elite nights (10 from the credit card + 2 from credit card spend + 18 from stays)
• 1 category 1-4 free night certificate as a Milestone Reward at 30 nights.
• 4 useless Club Lounge Access Awards (they’re useless because you won’t need them when you have Globalist status)
• Globalist status

So, the answer is yes, you can get Globalist status with no out-of-pocket spend.  I’ll leave it to the reader to decide whether it’s wise to do so.

What will I do?

Since I currently have Globalist status, the opportunity to earn status for 2 years isn’t as compelling for me.  I already have status through February 2022, so there’s no point in my hurrying to get to 30 nights early in 2021.  I have all year to get there…

I previously booked a 7 night Hyatt stay that spans the new year.  This will give me 14 elite nights in 2021.  There’s also a possible 2 night Hyatt stay in early December.  That would give me another 2 elite nights in 2021.

So, here’s what I expect to have going into 2021:

• 2 elite nights from stays that happen during the Double Elite Night promo, but which complete in 2020.
• 14 elite nights from my 7 night stay that completes January 4th.
• 5 elite nights from the World of Hyatt credit card
• 6 elite nights from spending $15K on the World of Hyatt credit card (in order to earn a free night certificate)
• Total: 27 elite nights

I’ll be just 3 nights from earning Globalist status again for 2022 without breaking a sweat.  And since I’ll have Globalist status (which was earned this year), I won’t feel the need to hurry and earn it again early in 2021.  I have no doubt I’ll spend more than 3 more nights at Hyatt hotels or SLH properties throughout the year, so in my case, there’s no point in mattress running.

Questions and Answers

Hyatt Mattress Run Q&A

A “mattress run” is where you book a stay just for the rewards earned.  Usually it doesn’t make sense to waste points or cash on mattress runs, but Hyatt’s many overlapping promos makes it reasonable to do.

Q: What are elite nights or “tier qualifying nights”?

Tier qualifying nights are often referred to as “elite nights”. With many hotel chains, you can earn elite status by acquiring a number of tier qualifying elite nights each year. For example, Hyatt usually requires earning 30 elite nights per year to achieve mid-tier Explorist status, or 60 elite nights for top-tier Globalist status (but in 2021 the requirements are cut in half). Additionally, Hyatt offers “Milestone Rewards” which are perks like free lounge access, free nights, bonus points, etc. Milestone Rewards are earned within a calendar year when you achieve 20 elite nights, and every 10 elite nights after that up to 100. Read more about Hyatt elite status and Milestone Rewards in our World of Hyatt Complete Guide.

Q: Do I have to physically go to the hotel to check in?

Usually yes.  Most mattress runs involve physically checking into the hotel.  That said, if you’re lucky you may be able to find a hotel manager willing to process your check-in remotely.  If so, you may have to fax them a photo of your ID and credit card.

Q: Should I speak with a hotel manager about my plans?

Yes!  If you don’t speak with a hotel manager, they may find your room unoccupied and check you out early. If you’re not planning to actually stay at the hotel, then I think it’s critical to explain to hotel management what you want to accomplish and why.

Q: Do I have to physically go to the hotel to check out?

No.  You can check out with the Hyatt app or you can simply ignore it and the hotel will automatically check you out.

Q: Do rates with free nights (e.g. 3rd night free) earn elite nights for those free nights?

Hyatt Rep: No. Due to limitations of our program operations system, free nights applicable through a ‘BOGO’ offer, or the likes thereof, would not qualify toward earning Tier Qualifying Night credits.

Greg: I’ve heard mixed results from people who did the Miraval BOGO offer. Some reported that they did receive elite nights for all nights of the stay, others said no.  Miraval isn’t as tied in technically with Hyatt as most other brands, so this result might be dependent upon how the stay is keyed in after checkout.

Bonus Journeys Promo Q&A

Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promotion offers triple points for all eligible spend; quadruple points at select resorts (for Hyatt credit card holders only); and double elite nights, with base elite nights being credited the year in which you check-out and bonus elite nights credited to 2021.

Here are the answers to questions relevant to this promo:

Q: Are there limits to how many bonus points or bonus nights can be earned with this promo?

Hyatt: There is no cap on the amount of nights a member can stay and earn on during this promotion. However, there is a maximum of 150,000 Bonus Points that can be earned during the Promotion Period. An additional maximum of 75,000 Bonus Points (for a total of 225,000) may be earned as a Hyatt and World of Hyatt credit cardmember during the Promotion Period for eligible spend at participating resorts.

Greg: If I calculated correctly, the above translates to a cap of $15K spend at Hyatt during the promo period for earning triple or quadruple points.

Q: Which properties qualify for quadruple points?

The property list includes 160 Hyatt resorts, almost 200 Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties and 16 MGM Resorts properties.  Find the full list here.

Q: Do award stays earn bonus elite nights?

Yes

Q: Do free night certificate stays earn bonus elite nights?

Yes

Q: Do Points + Cash award stays earn bonus elite nights?

Yes

Q: Do bonus elite nights count towards Milestone Rewards?

Yes

Q: Do elite nights earned from World of Hyatt credit card spend earn bonus elite nights?

No

Q: On an award stay, can I earn 3X bonus points for incidentals charged to my room?

Hyatt Rep: Yes, members may earn Bonus Points for eligible incidental spend charged to their guest room for eligible stays during the Promotion Period.

Q: What happens with stays that span December and January (with checkout by Jan 4th)?

You will earn double elite nights in 2021.  Example: If you were to stay December 28, 2020 – January 4, 2021 (7 nights total), you would earn 14 elite nights in 2021 (7 tier qualifying nights + 7 bonus elite nights)

Q4: Does Hyatt give points and elite night credits for long term stays? [Some chains do not give points or elite credits for stays of 30 nights or longer]

Yes

Hyatt Rep: There is no cap on the amount of nights a member can stay and earn on during this promotion. However, there is a maximum of 150,000 Bonus Points that can be earned during the Promotion Period. An additional maximum of 75,000 Bonus Points (for a total of 225,000) may be earned as a Hyatt and World of Hyatt credit cardmember during the Promotion Period for eligible spend at participating resorts.

Q: Award stays longer than 10 nights can’t be booked online. Is there a workaround?

Hyatt Rep: This is due to the number of night limitations to which we can issue an award stay. We issue awards in increments of 10 nights. If a member would like to redeem multiple free night awards for longer than 10 consecutive nights, they should contact the Global Contact Center to assist them in booking multiple awards under one reservation.

Q: If Hyatt strings together multiple point awards into one reservation that spans the new year, when will elite nights be credited?

Hyatt Rep: Since nights are always awarded based on checkout date, those awards under one reservation would be based off of the Jan checkout date, and therefore, earn Tier Qualifying Nights and bonus nights for 2021.

Greg: Some people are understandably nervous about this. The concern is that elite nights for the first increments may be awarded to 2020 rather than 2021.  My advice: after booking the stay, contact the hotel and confirm with them that they see it as a single long stay with checkout in January.  As long as this is the case, my bet is that this will work as Hyatt has said.

Q: If I earn 30 elite nights early in 2021, how long will my Globalist status last?

Once you reach 30 nights, your status will last for the rest of that year, all of the next, and through February of the year after that.  So, in this example your status will last until the end of February 2023.

More Info

Much more info about the Hyatt’s loyalty program can be found in our World of Hyatt Complete Guide:

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